Gigi Lets Go!
Fifty years after it happened, Jane Goodall greeted me with a smile and asked, “Weren’t you the student Gigi defecated upon?”
I hadn’t seen that coming. Neither had I noticed the adult female chimpanzee Gigi, suffering from a bad case of diarrhea, perched on a branch directly above me back in 1974.
Gigi eating magugunwa fruit along an upper hillside. 
The Setting.
On July 21, 1974, Esilom Mpongo and I were following the alpha male Figan through the forests of Gombe. Near the research headquarters, we watched as Figan encountered Evered, the beta male who had challenged him for dominance the previous year. The reunion quickly became loud and dramatic as several chimpanzees crowded into the trees above us.
Jane Tells the Story.
That evening, while we were recounting the day’s events over dinner with Jane and the other students, my unsavory encounter with Gigi somehow became part of the conversation. To my surprise, Jane retold the story sixteen years later in her award-winning book Through a Window:
“Figan and Faben encountered Evered after a two-week separation. Curt observed the reunion which took place in a tall tree. It was tense and dramatic. Figan and Evered embraced, both screaming. The other chimps present were watching intently. They too were highly excited and screaming loudly.
‘I was looking up, doing my best to see exactly what was happening,’ said Curt, ‘when the unimaginable happened.’ He paused dramatically and we all wondered what was coming next. ‘Well, you know what fear and excitement can do to your guts,’ Curt went on. ‘One of those wretched creatures — I’m pretty sure it was Gigi — suddenly let go. I was absolutely showered with warm shit!’
Of course we were sorry for him, but nevertheless the whole mess collapsed laughing while Curt tried to look pained and aloof. Poor Curt — he had had to leave all the excitement and go and wash off in the stream. He was lucky that there was a stream close by! Fortunately he was with Esilom, who had recorded the details of the fight that took place.“ — Jane Goodall
Goodall, J. (1990). Through a window: My thirty years with the chimpanzees of Gombe. Houghton Mifflin. pp. 63-64.
Evered grooms Faben who grooms Figan who grooms Hugo. Curt took this photo shortly after washing off in the stream and rejoining Esilom and the chimps.
How Did the Story Reach Jane?
Jane’s account was completely accurate, but how did she first hear about the incident? I was too embarrassed to tell anyone, and I was certain Esilom wouldn’t have mentioned it.
As it turned out, Jane’s administrator, Emilie van Zinnicq Bergmann, was sitting in her office when the commotion erupted nearby. Drawn by the screaming and hooting, she hurried outside and joined Esilom and me as we watched the confrontation taking place in the trees. She happened to be standing right beside me when Gigi let go.
Emilie at Gombe in 1974 (photo by Jim Moore).
Emilie no longer remembers the incident, but I certainly do. I can still picture her pointing at me and laughing uncontrollably while I stood there in stunned disbelief, covered from head to toe in warm chimpanzee feces. Had Emilie not witnessed the episode, I doubt Jane would ever have heard the story, and Gigi’s remarkable aim might never have found its way into one of her books.
Fifty Years Later.
It was at a Roots & Shoots celebration in Dar es Salaam in 2024 when Jane asked me, out of the blue, if I was the student Gigi had defecated upon.
She caught me completely off guard, and I couldn’t help laughing. Jane was ninety years old, yet her memory and mischievous sense of humor were as sharp as ever. Even her grandson Merlin, whom I was meeting for the first time, knew about the story.
Curt and Jane at a ceremonial tree planting at the Mbezi Beach High School, moments after Jane asked about Gigi. In the background is Richard Ladkani, filming for his upcoming documentary “Just Me, Jane.” (Photo by Arlene Sánchez).
Looking back now, I realize the incident says as much about Jane as it does about me. Throughout decades of pioneering field research and later as a world-renowned conservationist, she never lost her delight in the small moments that made life at Gombe so unforgettable.
And somehow, among all those memories, she never forgot the student Gigi defecated upon.
Curt Busse
July, 2026